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Alzheimer’s Disease

Jun 27th 2025

What is Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)?

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that primarily affects older adults and is the most common cause of dementia.1 The cause of AD is unknown. Most individuals develop AD after 60 years of age.  Early onset AD may occur in approximately five percent of patients with AD.2  Worldwide, over 55 million people are living with AD and other dementias.3

What are the early symptoms of AD?

According to the Alzheimer’s Association3, there are ten early signs/symptoms of AD:

  1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life
  2. Challenges in planning or solving problems
  3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks
  4. Confusion with time or place
  5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
  6. New problems with words in speaking or writing
  7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
  8. Decreased or poor judgment
  9. Withdrawal from work or social activities
  10. Changes in mood or personality

AD progresses inexorably from mild cognitive impairment to severe dementia.4 

What Causes AD and is there a cure?

Abnormal clumps of extracellular proteins (amyloid plaques) and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (tau tangles) result from the buildup of amyloid and tau in the brain and are hallmarks of AD.  Another AD feature is the loss of connections between neurons in the brain. AD likely results from a combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.5

Studies are ongoing to learn more about plaques, tangles, and other biological features of AD with the goal of ultimately preventing or curing Alzheimer’s. Biomarkers, including the use of blood or cerebrospinal fluid, play crucial roles in understanding AD: beta amyloid, tau, neurofilament light chain (Nfl), Klotho and others.6-8

Within the last five years, drugs have become available to slow the progression of this horrible disease. Currently, there is no cure for AD.

Please visit the IBL-America website to see items offered for the detection of various Amyloid beta molecules, antibodies and test kits targeting Tau protein, APPα and β, Nfl, Klotho and other significant molecules.

Catalogue Information

 

1Ballard C, Gauthier S, Corbett A, Brayne C, Aarsland D, Jones J. Alzheimer’s Disease. Lancet 2011; 377:1019. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61349-9.

2Braak H, Braak E. Frequency of stages of Alzheimer-related lesions in different age categories. Neurobiol Aging 1997;18(4):351-7. doi: 10.1016/s0197-4580(97)00056-0.

3Alzheimer's & Dementia | Alzheimer's Association

4Atri A.  The Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Spectrum: Diagnosis and Management. Med Clin North Am 2019;103(2):263-293. doi: 10.1016/j.mcna.2018.10.009.

5Alzheimer’s Disease Fact Sheet

6Dubois B, Von Arnim CAF, Burnie N, Bozeat, Cummings J. Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease: role in early and differential diagnosis and recognition of atypical variants. Alz ResTherapy2023; 15:175. doi.org/10.1186/s13195-023-01314-6.

7Gaetani L, Blennow K, Calabresi P, Di Filippo M, Parnetti L, Zetterberg H. Neurofilament light chain as a biomarker in neurological disorders. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2019;90:870–881. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2018-320106. 

8Wu Y, Lei S, Li D, Li Z, Zhang Y, Guo Y. Relationship of Klotho with cognition and dementia: Results from the NHANES 2011–2014 and Mendelian randomization study. Transl Psychiatry 13, 337 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-023-02632-x.

 

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